Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021

We collected social contact data in Greece to measure contact patterns before (January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–October 2021) and assess the effects of social distancing over time. During lockdowns, mean daily contacts decreased to 2.8–5.9 (mean prepandemic 20.4). Persons...

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Main Authors: Vasiliki Engeli, Sotirios Roussos, Nikolaos Demiris, Angelos Hatzakis, Vana Sypsa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2025-01-01
Series:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Subjects:
Online Access:https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31/1/24-0737_article
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author Vasiliki Engeli
Sotirios Roussos
Nikolaos Demiris
Angelos Hatzakis
Vana Sypsa
author_facet Vasiliki Engeli
Sotirios Roussos
Nikolaos Demiris
Angelos Hatzakis
Vana Sypsa
author_sort Vasiliki Engeli
collection DOAJ
description We collected social contact data in Greece to measure contact patterns before (January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–October 2021) and assess the effects of social distancing over time. During lockdowns, mean daily contacts decreased to 2.8–5.9 (mean prepandemic 20.4). Persons >65 years of age retained the fewest contacts during the pandemic (2.1–4.1). Compared with the first lockdown (March–April 2020), the second lockdown (November–December 2020) and third lockdown (April 2021) showed higher numbers of contacts (incidence rate ratio 1.50 [95% CI 1.27–1.76] in second lockdown and 2.19 [95% CI 1.86–2.58] in third lockdown). In 2021, an increase in contacts was apparent, which persisted during the April 2021 lockdown among persons 18–64 years of age. Our study provides evidence of the waning observance of physical distancing. Effective risk communication alongside targeted social distancing could offer alternatives to repeated lockdowns.
format Article
id doaj-art-0a5a4d8efec3441b8263a08e26f69e16
institution Kabale University
issn 1080-6040
1080-6059
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
record_format Article
series Emerging Infectious Diseases
spelling doaj-art-0a5a4d8efec3441b8263a08e26f69e162024-12-23T13:52:32ZengCenters for Disease Control and PreventionEmerging Infectious Diseases1080-60401080-60592025-01-01311758510.3201/eid3101.240737Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021Vasiliki EngeliSotirios RoussosNikolaos DemirisAngelos HatzakisVana Sypsa We collected social contact data in Greece to measure contact patterns before (January 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–October 2021) and assess the effects of social distancing over time. During lockdowns, mean daily contacts decreased to 2.8–5.9 (mean prepandemic 20.4). Persons >65 years of age retained the fewest contacts during the pandemic (2.1–4.1). Compared with the first lockdown (March–April 2020), the second lockdown (November–December 2020) and third lockdown (April 2021) showed higher numbers of contacts (incidence rate ratio 1.50 [95% CI 1.27–1.76] in second lockdown and 2.19 [95% CI 1.86–2.58] in third lockdown). In 2021, an increase in contacts was apparent, which persisted during the April 2021 lockdown among persons 18–64 years of age. Our study provides evidence of the waning observance of physical distancing. Effective risk communication alongside targeted social distancing could offer alternatives to repeated lockdowns. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31/1/24-0737_articleCOVID-19pandemiccoronavirus diseaseSARS-CoV-2severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2viruses
spellingShingle Vasiliki Engeli
Sotirios Roussos
Nikolaos Demiris
Angelos Hatzakis
Vana Sypsa
Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
Emerging Infectious Diseases
COVID-19
pandemic
coronavirus disease
SARS-CoV-2
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
viruses
title Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
title_full Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
title_fullStr Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
title_full_unstemmed Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
title_short Social Contact Patterns and Age Mixing before and during COVID-19 Pandemic, Greece, January 2020–October 2021
title_sort social contact patterns and age mixing before and during covid 19 pandemic greece january 2020 october 2021
topic COVID-19
pandemic
coronavirus disease
SARS-CoV-2
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
viruses
url https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31/1/24-0737_article
work_keys_str_mv AT vasilikiengeli socialcontactpatternsandagemixingbeforeandduringcovid19pandemicgreecejanuary2020october2021
AT sotiriosroussos socialcontactpatternsandagemixingbeforeandduringcovid19pandemicgreecejanuary2020october2021
AT nikolaosdemiris socialcontactpatternsandagemixingbeforeandduringcovid19pandemicgreecejanuary2020october2021
AT angeloshatzakis socialcontactpatternsandagemixingbeforeandduringcovid19pandemicgreecejanuary2020october2021
AT vanasypsa socialcontactpatternsandagemixingbeforeandduringcovid19pandemicgreecejanuary2020october2021